"
"Indeed?"
"He soon learned that officers of the law were all looking for a man
with a large wart on the second joint of the little finger of the
right hand. This fact made him nervous, and one night he severed the
wart, and flung it from him, since which time he has breathed easier."
A low exclamation from the lips of Nell startled both men.
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE STORY OF A WART.
"Nell, what is it?" questioned the surprised detective.
Harry regarded the girl with a queer smile. Perhaps he knew what had
brought the exclamation to the lips of Miss Darrel.
"I know a man who has lost a wart," she said, slowly, a deepening
pallor coming to her cheeks.
"His name?" questioned Dyke Darrel, eagerly.
But the girl did not immediately answer. It seemed that something
moved her deeply.
"Was it Professor Ruggles?" questioned Harry, in order to help the
young girl out.
"No," she said.
"Who then?"
"Harper Elliston!"
A grave look chased the smile from the face of Harry Bernard.
The girl's announcement seemed to prove a revelation to him, even as
it did to Dyke Darrel.
"I did not know the man who severed the wart from his hand," said
Harry Bernard, after a brief silence, "but suspected that it was
Darlington Ruggles.
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